1. Field of the Invention
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to polymers for anti-reflective coatings, anti-reflective coating compositions including the polymers, and methods of forming a pattern using the anti-reflective coating compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, a layer is typically patterned by utilizing a photoresist pattern as an etching mask. An anti-reflective film or an anti-reflective coating (ARC) film is often formed on the to-be-patterned layer, and then a photoresist film is formed on the anti-reflective film.
The anti-reflective film generally functions to reduce or prevent reflection of light from an underlying layer while the photoresist film is exposed to light in an exposure process. In particular, the anti-reflective film may suppress a standing wave effect that can be generated by interference between incident light entering the photoresist film and reflection light reflecting from the underlying layer.
The anti-reflective film can substantially reduce the reflection of irregular light from patterns formed on a substrate and/or diffused light from an edge of a structure formed on a substrate. In this manner, the anti-reflective film may be effective in the formation of a photoresist pattern with a precise critical dimension and may improve process tolerances of the semiconductor manufacturing process.
Anti-reflective films are generally classified as either organic anti-reflective films or inorganic anti-reflective films. Inorganic anti-reflective films exhibit favorable adhesiveness to an underlying structure having a stepped portion. However, inorganic anti-reflective films may not be readily removed from a substrate, and may exhibit relatively poor adhesiveness to a photoresist film subsequently formed on the anti-reflective film. Organic anti-reflective films may overcome these drawbacks of inorganic anti-reflective films, but still may be deficient in achieving a desired photoresist pattern profile or patterned layer profile.